Archiv fĂĽr den Monat: April 2008

I really believe that switching to GPL did more harm then good. A forum thread of more than 50 pages is no good signâ€¦

It is quite hard to tell how GPL works for web applications. Does sending html/css/javascript code to a browser mean I am conveying the application to the user?

What is the application in this case? As far as I remember I deployed a war file. Is my user getting the war file? Is he able to deploy the aplication? What about all of my server side business logic and settings that never get to user?

I think that what developers at GXT are demanding is wrong. As long as this isnâ€™t clarified, GXT is a â€śno goâ€ť.

Or does someone want to buy a commercial license that only works on an unreleased version of GWT for a Proof-Of-Concept project? My customers definitely not.

It has always been the FSFâ€™s position that dynamically linking applications to libraries creates a single work derived from both the library code and the application code. The GPL requires that all derivative works be licensed under the GPL, an effect which can be described as â€śhereditary.â€ť So, if an application links to a library licensed under the GPL, the application too must be licensed under the GPL. By contrast, libraries licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) may be linked to proprietary applications.

Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole combination.

As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend this exception to your version of the library, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version.

If you donâ€™t directly link to GPLed code (e.g. using JMS, SOAP or similar communication approaches) it seems to be enough to provide installation instructions, so the user can deploy the GPL libraries himself. You have to provide bridge code licensed under compatible licenses to make this possible. If your code only compiles if a given GPL library is available in the classpath (import statements, use of derived classes, etc), then you must license your code under the GPL as wellâ€¦

Maybe some of you already visited the project homepage of MyGWT in the last days. Yes, MyGWT is gone. The project got finally â€śmovedâ€ť to the extjs project, something that was announced long ago.

I was surprised to see GXT getting GPLed. Or better, dual licensed. There is the open source license (GPL), and there is the commercial license. The commercial license calculated per developer anyhow touching GXT classes, what in our agile days of development practically means every single developer of the team.

Contribute to the Open Source community by placing your application under an Open Source license (e.g. GPL v3). This option secures all users the rights to obtain the applicationâ€™s full source code, modify it, and redistribute it.

IMHO, this statement wishful thinking and not implied by the GPL license. In my understanding (and I impressed to see in how many ways GPL is getting interpreted) that GPL is meant to protect the customer, not the code owner (author). In other words: I get all the code, so my future is secured. I can do whatever I want, as long as my changes and my code is GPLed as well. This means that MY CUSTOMER will get all my code and my changes:

One of the fundamental requirements of the GPL is that when you distribute object code to users, you must also provide them with a way to get the source.

I understand users here the ones getting my product. In the special case of a web-app that is not going public, the user is my customer that is deploying the web-app, and people using the services provided by the application do not get touched my the GPL.

If I know someone has a copy of a GPL-covered program, can I demand he give me a copy?

No. The GPL gives him permission to make and redistribute copies of the program if he chooses to do so. He also has the right not to redistribute the program, if that is what he chooses.

Another very interesting misunderstanding that comes woth GPL, again quoted from the GPL FAQ:

Does the GPL allow me to sell copies of the program for money?

Yes, the GPL allows everyone to do this. The right to sell copies is part of the definition of free software. Except in one special situation, there is no limit on what price you can charge. (The one exception is the required written offer to provide source code that must accompany binary-only release.)

As far as i understand GPL, I must not make my code public. I can. Expecting users to do this (â€ťThis option secures all users the rights to obtain the applicationâ€™s full source code, modify it, and redistribute it.â€ť â€“ quoted from above) is not true, and I believe it is a violation of GPL.